The mysterious volute...

zohn · 2010-06-21T08:20:45+00:00

? Eina!!! ever seen this happen to a guitar? So how do builders prevent (or minimize) headstock breaks from happening? One way is to incorporate a volute...

The mysterious volute...

[deleted]

Never seen that on an acoustic... Ouch..

Is there a story as to what happened? surely it took a big knock or something?

Keira-WitherKay

but the beauty of acoustic guitar is everything is repairable..

recently i happened to be in a guitar techs workshop fetching a guitar he installed a pickup in and a woman walked in with a classical guitar with the headstock split off........ and in jagged bits .. not as neat as this....and the repair guy said if he repairs it that she can still see the join ( as in not too labour intensive to hide all the 'scars) he could do it for R800 i did a double take at the cheap quote i thought it would be far higher but no........ seems glue and some careful clamping is all it takes.......... for the simple repair that is....... apparantly it's the cosmetics to make it an invisible fix that is time consuming and expensive ..........

so yeah never stress when a guitar is damaged .... everything can be fixed......... and yes if you want "invisible fix's it will be at a far higher price but even that is possible......... it just takes more money being thrown at it

dee

How close to the original condition (sound wise, not aesthetic) would a repair on that be?

AlanRatcliffe

+1. In my experience, a nice clean break like that won't make a difference to the tone at all when repaired.

@Keira - kudos to your luthier. A lot of guys take advantage of that situation simply because it scares the hell out of the owner. But it is usually a simple repair unless cosmetic touch ups are required. Some obviously work out more costly: the ones that come in looking like jigsaws (sometimes with pieces missing), which often means repairing piece by piece; and the "I fixed it myself" ones (said "fix" often involving Bostick Clear or Pratley Putty, bolts and cable ties).

singemonkey

How much does the volute actually help. Gibsons - and their clones in case someone thinks I'm taking a shot - always snap off here. Did the 70's ones with the volutes actually break less?

Renesongs

Stupid question - If the repair is an easy one why not repair before selling and get a better price or why sell in the first place?

Keira-WitherKay

re the "why does the store not repair it................. " i agree +1 to what Zohn said ............ the basic repair will be cheap and with this one looks easy no shattered jagged ends to painstaikingly rebuild like a jig saw puzzle.......... BUT as i mentioned even my luthier said the "invisible " repair is costly ....... cos then it's matching a new finish with an aged finish ect ect ............ it is possible but at a cost ....and i guess the store if they do it ..even seemlessly and perfectly invisible will still have to declare to the buyer the neck was repaired......and if one is spending on a top end guitar one would rather not have a damaged one........... so this way they sell it cheap.......(prob bought it in even cheaper cos of the break) then it's your responsibility if you just want a great guitar to play and not worried about the cosmetics.....you got a fabulous deal on a martin........ cos you bought it as is cheap did a cheap repair and hey we must not forget the repaired guitar will only be cosmetically flawed.......... the tone/feel will be 100% martin and as the guitar was before the break......

so yeah it's the kinda deal i would look for................if i wanted a guitar to play NOT collect.............. but i doubt any collector who is buying for investment would even look twice at this guitar cos in collectors world "original" condition is all important ......... no refrets/finish changes are acceptable...............and i'm sure a neck repair will be a no no ......... cos this is not like a stradivarius there are many martins still around so no need to accept one with repairs.............

AlanRatcliffe

It's largely a case of risk...

Even if they spend money getting it repaired, they will struggle to sell it, will still end up selling it for less, and will have to guarantee both the guitar and the work done themselves (manufacturer's warrantee obviously being null & void).

So they rather sell it at cost to someone who can fix it (or get it fixed) and will be happy to assume the risk in exchange for getting it at a bargain price.

Een

I have an Ibanez AEL20 which I knocked over by accident, and the headstock hit the carpet first, creating a 5cm long crack down the neck. I had it repaired for R180. I was very surprised at how cheap that was.

However...

The guitar just doesnt sound or play the same to me anymore. It's far from the best acoustic ever built, but it sounded nice to my ears and I enjoyed playing it, before the accident. It could just be a case of me knowing about the fix and now it negatively affects the way I hear it, or maybe it was not the best fix and I got what I paid for.

Knocking a guitar over by accident, and seeing it fall to the ground in sloooooooow motion, unable to catch it in time, is a sickening feeling. I was mopey for 2 weeks solid after that LOL! I would not wish this to happen to my worst enemy.

singemonkey

zohn wrote: I know the feeling - the slow motion effect.... It happened to me once at church with an Ovation Celebrity I had. Someone tripped over the lead and the guitar fell sideways off the stand. The headstock was fine but the neck separated at the body-joint. Had it fixed for R300 (about 5 years ago) and it too was never the same again. I was most happy to get it sold.

I could simplify your statement without losing any of the sense of it:

"an Ovation Celebrity I had...I was most happy to get it sold."

?

Keira-WitherKay

zohn wrote:
singemonkey wrote:
I could simplify your statement without losing any of the sense of it:

"an Ovation Celebrity I had...I was most happy to get it sold."

?
right - you have a way with words... ?

? and it happened in a church...well i would see that as God's way of telling me to upgrade ...........

zohn

Keira WitherKay wrote:
zohn wrote:
singemonkey wrote:
I could simplify your statement without losing any of the sense of it:

"an Ovation Celebrity I had...I was most happy to get it sold."

?
right - you have a way with words... ?
? and it happened in a church...well i would see that as God's way of telling me to upgrade ...........

? ? ? - (I heard and I listened and I obeyed...)